Category: birth

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birth community Health Care pregnancy

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Day

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1693401592473{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs) are as prevalent as Autism Spectrum Disorders, but they are less talked about and wildly misunderstood. If you work with babies, you are likely to encounter one with FASD, but it often goes unrecognized and untreated. We’re going to do some myth-busting and share some facts that all birth workers should know and be prepared to share with clients.

  • Alcohol is a known teratogen (birth defect-causing agent). There is no known amount of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) or time during pregnancy when alcohol can be consumed without risk to the fetus.
  • 45% of pregnancies are accidental. Often, prenatal alcohol exposure occurs before pregnancy is detected. Early detection of pregnancy reduces the likelihood of PAE.
  • Not all PAE causes FASD to develop. The development of FASD is influenced by the amount of alcohol exposure and a mix of genetic and epigenetic factors. FASD affects people from all walks of life, races, and ethnicities
  • Social determinants of health influence the development of and treatment of FASD. For example, people who have had limited access to education, are less likely to be aware that consuming alcohol can harm their babies. People experiencing poverty and racism are less likely to disclose their alcohol consumption and seek timely treatment for themselves and their children due to fear of incarceration and having their children removed. 
  • While FASD is diagnosed based on the presence of specific facial characteristics, FASD can manifest in a variety of ways, with a range of symptom severity. Treatment needs to be tailored to the individual.
  • Newborns with FASD are often have heightened sensitivity to light and other environmental stimuli. They benefit from being cared for in a dark, quiet environment, and may need more soothing than other babies.
  • Many children with FASD struggle more with emotional regulation than other children. They can benefit from an established routine and early and active guidance on emotional regulation strategies such as breathing exercises. 
  • People with FASD often have specific strengths. For example, many people with FASD are highly self-aware, hopeful, collaborative, loving, and kind. Treatment that focuses on strengths rather than deficits is more effective.
  • Many people with FASD lead happy, fulfilling, and rewarding lives. This outcome is more likely with early, strengths-focused treatment. 

In recognition that we need to talk about FASD, the Canadian Government declared September FASD awareness month in 2020. The theme for 2023 is Uniting our Strengths: Finding Solutions Together.

As birthworkers, we can be part of the solution by informing ourselves of and celebrating the strengths of people with FASD. We can also hold non-judgmental, compassionate space for our clients to talk about drinking. Stigma is the leading reason why people don’t ask for help. 

You can also honour the achievements of people with FASD by wearing red shoes this month! “Red Shoes Rock” is a grassroots movement that started in 2013 with FASD educator and advocate RJ Formanek wore shoes on an international stage. 

In his own words: “Red shoes were critical to my narrative, they were the key to it all. They were all about being different… They spoke of speed, of freedom of thought and being different, and red running shoes with the power suit sent a message out there to the world.”

For more information on supporting families navigating FASD, check out our posts from 2021 and 2022.

 

Keira Grant (she/her) brings a wealth of experience to her EDI Co-Lead role. She is a Queer, Black woman with a twenty-year track record in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) education, projects, and community building initiatives. As a mom and partner she uses her lived expereince to provide support and reflection for her clients and her work. Keira is the owner of Awakened Changes Perinatal Doula Services.

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Categories
birth lactation

Why We Need More Human Milk

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”509749″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1690821411248{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”] At Doula Canada we celebrate August  as Human Lactation Month. A month of honouring and celebrating the many lactation weeks that happen throughout August. Including but not limited to  World Breastfeeding Week 2023 is from Tuesday 1st August – Monday 7th August 2023. Indigenous Milk Medicine Week is held annually August 8-14.  Black Breastfeeding Week runs August 25th – 31st.  As we honour Human Milk pay attention to our blog and social media for more information and takeaways throughout the month.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1690820935893{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]

Why We Need More Human Milk

I had a conversation with a new colleague with expertise in lactation support that blew my understanding of late-stage capitalist discourse on breast/chestfeeding wide open. She said that when we talk about the benefits of breastfeeding we construct formula as the baseline and feeding infants human milk as an added bonus. The construct should be to perceive human milk as a baseline and formula as an intervention that has risks and benefits and is to be used when feeding human milk is not an option.

Most of the clients I work with prenatally have a strong goal of feeding their baby their own milk exclusively for at least the first 6 months of life, and continue nursing after food introduction. Some have a goal of nursing for, up to two years. My clients understand that this goal tracks with evidence-based infant feeding recommendations. (The Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and the World Health Organization) What they are often blindsided by is just how many obstacles exist to achieving that goal. 

Talking about the joys and the barriers to feeding our babies our milk is vital during Human Lactation Month (commonly known as Breastfeeding Awareness Month). Many of the specific obstacles to meeting feeding goals that I have seen are rooted in silence that starts long before the pregnancy.

Many of us have never held a baby or seen someone nurse before we’re attempting to feed our firstborns for the first time. That’s not normal. It used to be that our efforts to initiate chest/breastfeeding came after a lifetime of watching other milk-producing members of our community do this important job. As a result, we have a lot of catching up to do while we are overwhelmed with getting to know our new babes.

There is also silence about our bodies. We encounter people who have never touched their breasts and are uncomfortable with learning hand expressions. There are those who have never heard of colostrum and are therefore susceptible to well-meaning advice from family or professionals that their supply is not enough and that they need to supplement with formula on day one or two. 

And there is silence about the impact of intergenerational and individual trauma. There are Black folks who unexpectedly feel the humiliation of slave wet nurses rising inside them across time when they put their own newborns to the breast. There are Indigenous folks whose mothers have repeated to them what they heard from doctors in hospitals, away from their communities “formula is better than your breastmilk”.

The current evidence continues to be irrefutable that our milk is best for our babies. The probiotics in each person’s milk are custom designed for their baby, resulting in optimized digestive, immune, and cognitive functioning, and many other health indicators.  

If milk from the biological parent is not an option, human milk from a donor is the next best thing. Of course, there are many obstacles to human milk sharing as well, with attempts to walk this road often leading right back to formula.

Over the course of this month we’ll be sharing some fun, interactive content in support and celebration of human milk. Stay tuned for a lactation recipe box, an infographic on milk sharing, and some fun facts and tips about getting those juices flowing. Wishing you a productive August![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1690821366833{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Keira Grant (she/her) brings a wealth of experience to her EDI Co-Lead role. She is a Queer, Black woman with a twenty-year track record in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) education, projects, and community building initiatives. As a mom and partner she uses her lived expereince to provide support and reflection for her clients and her work. Keira is the owner of Awakened Changes Perinatal Doula Services.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Anti-Oppression Anti-racism work balance birth Business collaboration community connection Equity fear gratitude Health Care pregnancy rebranding shame starting fresh Trauma Volunteering vulnerabiliity

Using Doula Care as Community Aid: The Giving Equation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1684151324317{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]As I’ve been going through our Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan, I’ve been continuously thinking about doula care and community aid, and how we can continue to decolonize our practices. As doula care becomes more “trendy” in current society, as it continues to dominate mostly higher-class spaces, how do we reflect on the roots of doula care, and stay true to community work? Of course, as doulas we do not feed ourselves and pay the bills off of warm and fuzzy feelings, but I think it is realistic to say most of us enter the field with a certain amount of passion and drive to create change in our communities. Whether that be being inspired by our own birth experience, or noticing how much of a difference our own doula made, most of us come to doula care for a deep reason.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1684151342874{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]However you identify, birth work has the ability to bring folks together. The birth and the postpartum periods are intimate and vulnerable. Individuals from marginalized communities may wish to hire someone with the same identity or lived experience as them. As someone from a certain background you may possess a set of skills, knowledge or spiritual/cultural teachings that someone from an outside identity may not. For example, a Muslim family may choose to hire a Muslim doula who may better understand their traditional customs and practices surrounding birth. An Indigenous family may choose an Indigenous doula who understands and celebrates their practices and understands the risk of violence within the medical system.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1684151427232{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]

Below are some tips on using your practice and voice as a doula to help your community:

  1. Marry your interests

An easy equation for finding what population you want to serve is this: identifier + lived experience + passions and skills.

Between your lived experiences and passions/interests and skill, lays your intended community. For example, as an Indigenous mental health practitioner who grew up low-income, I chose to narrow my focus on low-income families and trauma survivors. Think about the spaces you frequent, the groups you are a part of, your professional training and hobbies.

 

Identifier: Indigenous, Queer

Lived experience: Poverty

Skill: Social work background

Passion: Trauma

           _______________________________

Target communities:

Indigenous families

Queer Families

Low Income Families

Trauma Survivors

 

2. What can you afford to give?

Whether that is your time, or money, or expertise. Some doulas choose to dedicate acouple of births per year pro-bono or sliding scale. Perhaps, you decide to attend protests and events as a community member that are relevant to your population. You may have resources you don’t mind sharing.or books to loan out. Be creative!

 

3. Advocacy

What issues are impacting your community? How can you use your voice in a way that helps others? Perhaps you can assist in social movements regarding reproductive health.How do you use your social media. What current issues are really important to you?

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These are just a few of the ways that you can take your profession, and use it for social change. What other ways can you make waves?

 

Here are some exploratory journal prompts for you:

  • Why did I choose to become a doula?

  • What social issues am I passionate about?

  • What can I afford to give?

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1684154527320{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]-Kayt Ward, EDI Co-lead, BSW[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
About Us Anti-Oppression Anti-racism work birth Business collaboration community connection decolonization Equity indigenous doula intersectionality Labour Doula LGBTQ2S+ Postpartum Doula research Trauma understanding bias

Doula Canada Presents: Anti-O Bingo

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Aaniin Doulas!

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This month we are introducing a new EDI initiative, and we want our students and alumni to play! Introducing…. Anti-O Bingo!
You’ve given your input, and we’re listening. Through our Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan, and our EDI surveys, we have identified anti-oppression and cultural training as one of the many areas Doula Canada doulas are interested in pursuing.

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How to play:
1. Click HERE to download your free Anti-O Bingo Card
2. Attend an event from each category
3. At each event, ask your facilitator for your custom .jpeg stamp. Paste it into a doc! (Remember to save it!). If you are attending a livestream (Just Birth, Fireside Chat, etc), please submit a paragraph on what you learned to kayt@doulatraining.ca
4. When you have all 8 stamps, please submit your doc to kayt@doulatraining.ca for your Anti-Oppression in Doula Care 101 Certificate and a ballot to win an $100 Etsy Gift Card.

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You have until December 31, 2023. Good Luck!

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Chi Miigwetch! Nia:wen!
Kayt Ward and Keira Grant, EDI Leads

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”494571″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_button corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://stefanie-techops.wisdmlabs.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/edi-bingo.pdf” align=”center”]Get Your Anti-O Bingo Card here![/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
birth Postpartum Doula

The Magic of Postpartum Support

[vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1679838820005{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]You’ve given birth and become a parent but it can feel like there is no time for recovery. The focus shifts almost entirely to your baby and your own needs can get sidelined. It’s exciting but also overwhelming and exhausting, both physically and emotionally. And just when new parents are at their most vulnerable, their babies take centre stage.

There are a lot of things about the postpartum period that you can’t control: how feeding will go, how your baby sleeps, your hormone fluctuations, etc. But you CAN prepare a great support system and a postpartum doula is an important part of that. Having access to a postpartum doula relieves a lot of stress so you can focus on the important business of bonding with your baby. If you haven’t worked with a doula before, it can be pretty hard to grasp what it is exactly that doulas do. And while birth doulas have been gaining in popularity, postpartum doulas are still a mystery to most expecting parents.

So what magic does a postpartum doula offer?

A postpartum doula helps you build community. The saying, “It takes a village” is true, a postpartum doula will help you rally family, friends and neighbours to feed you and your family nutritious food, supply solicited (and unsolicited) advice, and take care of older siblings. If support is in short supply they will work with you to find the places in the community that you can lean into to build your new postpartum community.

A postpartum doula helps build your confidence. Whether it be in feeding, or newborn care, when you have someone there to affirm that your choices are actually right on track, you start to believe in and trust yourself and your observations about your baby.

A postpartum doula supports your whole family. Partners who have doulas learn skills earlier and are more able to take on care of their infant alone earlier. Grandparents who have doulas around learn to care for new parents in a gentle and supportive way, able to use their instincts and experience in a way that supports their choice. Siblings gain another supportive adult to tend to their needs and help them bond with the baby and have time with their parents one on one.

A postpartum doula is well-versed in normal newborn behaviour and appearance, and normal postpartum healing. They can’t diagnose medical issues or mental health issues, but they can point out things that don’t seem normal to them so that parents can get an opinion from the appropriate professional.

A postpartum doula can help parents interpret those newborn cries—and the reflexes, body language, and other sounds that accompany newborn life! This is hugely empowering to parents who desperately want to know what is going on in that new little person.

A postpartum doula knows the importance of postpartum planning and will help you sort through what you need, the support you have and will need to have and how to navigate those early weeks and months with the new baby. ( check out our postpartum planning guide below)

A postpartum doula can work with you during the day or overnight. Some postpartum doulas offer one or the other and others offer a mix of both.

A postpartum doula is trained to recognize the difference between the typical “baby blues” and something more serious, like postpartum depression or anxiety. They can observe the new parent’s behaviour and determine if there may be a cause for concern, and as an impartial, objective third party they can provide a sounding board for her when they are ready to share their feelings.

A postpartum doula understands the need for the family’s care to be well-rounded; it is important that both their physical AND emotional needs are met. This vigilance truly is the first line of defence against postpartum mental health issues.

The postpartum period is a time of great transition, a time when people become parents, where they get to know themselves and their baby in this beautiful and challenging time. A primary goal of a doula is to meet a pregnant or postpartum person where they’re at. To find what is most important and most needed for you and your family.

Want your postpartum period to be calmer, do you want to feel more confident, bond more deeply with your baby? Hire a postpartum doula today![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1679838899311{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Our postpartum wellness plan is all about creating the space for you and your family to discuss and plan for the transition that is parenthood. To gather your commulity and bond with your baby.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Download the Postpartum Wellness Plan here ” color=”turquoise” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fstefanie-techops.wisdmlabs.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F03%2Fpostpartum-care-plan.pdf|target:_blank”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
birth Comfort Techniques fear gratitude Labour Doula pregnancy

Doula’s Toolbox: Why Birth Affirmations Matter!

[vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1679509016754{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]So let’s talk affirmations. The concept of self-affirmation isn’t by any means complex or far-fetched. Positive affirmations are statements or phrases that, when repeated daily, can help challenge negative thoughts and boost self-confidence.

First, a little science. 

To understand how positive affirmations work and how you can make the most of them, we have to familiarize you with neuroplasticity, which is the ability to rewire the brain. Despite being one of the most sophisticated and complex structures in the known universe, the human brain can get a little mixed up on the difference between reality and imagination. This very loophole serves as the basis of self-affirmation. To elaborate, when you repeat affirming statements daily, you’re helping your brain create a mental image of the goal you’re trying to achieve or the version of yourself you are aspiring to become.

Affirmations require regular practice if you want to make lasting, long-term changes to the ways that you think and feel, even for birth. There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016). If you want to be super specific, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing—becomes more active when we consider our personal values (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016). There is also some reasearch asserting that affirmations can reduce the rate of medical interventions during childbirth.Empirical studies suggest positive affirmations can:

  • Decrease health-deteriorating stress (Sherman et al., 2009; Critcher & Dunning, 2015);
  • Help change the way we view “threatening” messages with less resistance and perception (Logel & Cohen, 2012);
  • Self-affirmation has been demonstrated to lower stress and rumination (Koole et al., 1999; Weisenfeld et al., 2001).

Think of it this way. When you repeat the same thoughts in your head, positive or negative, you start to believe them and your brain forms a pathway of neurons. There is a popular saying: Your words become your world.

Anyway most importantly the purpose of affirmations in labour is actually quite simple: Birth affirmations are sayings or statements designed to change your mindset and help you maintain a positive outlook or mood regarding the birth process.

Preparing your mind for labour and birth is really important, and it is no different from eating well or working on specific exercises to prepare your body for labour.

In order for birth affirmations to work, you need to keep a few things in mind:

You  have to believe what you’re saying

When you have a negative thought or fear, recognize it and deal with it first. This study found that participants with low self-esteem who repeated the phrase “I am lovable” actually had more negative emotions and still didn’t feel lovable because they didn’t really believe what they were saying.

Try to get to the root of your fears or negativity around birth.  Talk to a counsellor, listen to or read positive birth stories and surround yourself with other positive influences.

Keep in mind that sometimes we have to keep saying affirmations over and over again until we do believe it, which brings me to my next point.

Repeat, repeat, repeat!

Create a plan to practice your birth affirmations daily or a few times a week leading up to your birth. Find an affirmation meditation you enjoy, write them in a journal, and practice with your partner, doula or support person, you can even record your own voice memo practicing your affirmations to listen back. Practicing during your pregnancy will make using these affirmations during labour more effective.

They are not just for vaginal birthing.

There’s a common misconception that affirmations or hypnobirthing tracks are only helpful for people planning for an unmedicated birth experience. Plus affirmations are a great tool to complement other forms of pain management in your plan (think about that long drive to the hospital before you get an epidural).

Make them visible: Once your contractions pick up, channelling your focus on affirmations will be more challenging. Print out a copy of your affirmations, save them to your phone, or pack affirmation cards (see the downloadable pdf)  in your bag will give you a visual point of reference to help keep your focus on your affirmations as you ride the waves of labour.

Now that you’ve got a sense of how affirmations work, where can you find the right positive messages for you?  We have a downloadable PDF with a few ( ALSO for doulas this deck is customizable you can add your logo) you can google, or you can ask friends and family to help you out.

What matters is that they are meaningful and believable for you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Customizable CANVA affirmation deck ” color=”turquoise” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canva.com%2Fdesign%2FDAFd8HHbv8Y%2F_hEn_HPs8cN6DuVZfUaADw%2Fview%3Futm_content%3DDAFd8HHbv8Y%26utm_campaign%3Ddesignshare%26utm_medium%3Dlink%26utm_source%3Dpublishsharelink%26mode%3Dpreview|target:_blank”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
birth Business Uncategorised

Interested in becoming a doula? What is holding you back?

[vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1678112925784{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]There are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there about doula work. You have to be “crunchy”, have your own children, your too young or too old. I am here to tell you not a single one of those things is relevant to doula work.

I began my doula journey well before I had kids when I was working a full-time job and was looking for something to reignite my passion. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I wanted to do something with babies.

So I signed up for a training course, drove 3 hours to take it, stayed in a sketchy motel and left feeling equal parts inspired and overwhelmed. Taking on something new is scary. Fear is one of life’s biggest paralyzers. All of us are afraid of failing, afraid of change, and transitions to something new often feel impossible.

My journey to birth work was not speedy. I took my time. Took in the learning, and made small changes, it took me almost 5 years to dive into birthwork full-time. Deciding to take a course you are passionate about is the beginning, it’s a step forward, not a deep dive.

Often a barrier to taking that step is the fear of not knowing how to do it. Worrying about not knowing how to do it is a waste of time. Instead, learn how to. Set up an informational interview with other doulas in your area. Ask how they got started and if they have any tips for going forward. If you align with their values and style ask if they are willing to be your mentor.

Also, get to know your training organization. Set up a consultation with the training program you are interested in. Ask all the questions. In fact, check a few out and go with the one that you feel most inspired by.

When I signed up for the doula course at first I was not sure I could afford it but in reality, with a little planning, I made it work. If you are questioning whether you can afford it. Ask yourself: When will you have enough money? Even if you win the lottery, will that be enough money for you to follow your dreams? What changes can you make to your income to set a little aside to take the course? Is there a grant you can access or funding? Do you have a family member or friend who will support your dream with a loan or gift? Nothing is impossible with a little ingenuity.

Lastly, time. It’s on everyone’s minds. How will you make the time? We all have incredibly busy lives and are exhausted and overwhelmed. However, making time for something you love means making the time, even if it starts with 15 minutes a day it’s the first step. Remind yourself that if you’re busy now, you’ll probably continue to be busy later, so set aside time for your dreams today.

So my potential doula. What is holding you back?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_padding_divider][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1678113462893{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]About the author.

Sondra is the Program Coordinator for DTC and a mother of 2, a full-time doula and a counsellor. She has a passion for teaching new doulas how to build a life and business that works best for them. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Anti-racism work birth Canada community connection decolonization Equity Health Care intersectionality pregnancy Trauma understanding bias

Why Black Futures Begin with Birth

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Why Black Futures Begin with Birth

Written by Keira Grant  – DTC EDI Lead for Racialized Communities

February is widely known as Black History Month. This term has rubbed me the wrong way since I was a kid, but it took me a while to put my finger on why. The reference to “history” is full of loaded assumptions that are highly convenient to colorblind multiculturalism. It suggests that racism toward Black people is something that happened a long time ago, maybe in a faraway place. Then slavery ended and then there was Black excellence.

Of course, there have always been excellent Black people, but that’s not really how the story goes. The beliefs that made slavery possible for centuries are part of the fabric of society. Even when we are excellent by eurocentric, capitalistic standards, it could still go the way it went for Tyre Nichols.

The violence that brutally ended the life of Tyre and so many others like him flows through all social institutions, not just policing. In countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom where race-based health data is collected, these data show that Black birthers are anywhere from 3 to 4 times more likely to die in childbirth than their white counterparts. Our babies are also at a significantly increased risk of death. This holds true, independent of education and socioeconomic status. The birth stories of celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles, Serena Williams, and Tatiana Ali, (whose story we’ll be discussing at March’s Equity Watch Party), bring these statistics to life.

At this time, many players in the Canadian healthcare system are calling for the collection of disaggregated race-based data. In the US, the collection of these data, and the resultant evidence of disparities has led to increased funding for programs that improve Black maternal health, including a proliferation of programs for accessing a Black doula. It has also supported requirements that health professionals receive training in implicit bias.

It’s been widely reported in the news that Tyre Nichols called out for his mom during the brutal attack that ended his life. Every Black person who dies as a result of structural violence is someone’s baby. When systemic disrespect and harm toward Black birthers and babies is normalized, rationalized, and justified it is the start of a pattern that impacts Black people across the lifespan. Emerging research is actually demonstrating that racial stress accelerates the aging process of Black women.

Creating a circle of love and support around Black birthers and their babies that is honest about what we are up against, and that celebrates our lives and well-being can have a profound impact on how someone’s life starts. It can affect how their life continues by showing them and their families that it is possible to create spaces where Black people are affirmed and nourished.

We talk about equity, diversity, and inclusion in this work all the time. During February, we have additional opportunities for our members to learn and engage in dialog about anti-Black racism and racial health equity in perinatal care. We are using the language Black Futures Month, “a visionary, forward-looking spin on celebrations of Blackness in February”.

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Categories
birth Business Canada collaboration community Equity fertility Health Care Labour Doula LGBTQ2S+ Menopause pregnancy research sex

2023 Social Media Event Calendar

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Advocacy at Doula Canada

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1669384798061{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Doulas support birthers, babies, and family members during an intimate and emotionally charged experience that often involves many medical twists and turns along the way. For many doula clients, pregnancy and childbirth are among the most complicated experiences with our healthcare system they will have ever had to navigate. We know that birthers need to feel in control of what happens to their bodies and to be making informed choices about their care to create a positive experience and avoid trauma. 

Doulas can change a person’s healthcare experience for the better by supporting their bodily autonomy and informed decision-making. Additionally, we are well placed to notice systemic issues that impact our clients again and again, and to use our knowledge to encourage and support changes.

Learning to engage in this type of advocacy within the scope of the doula’s role, so that our efforts are helpful, is an important aspect of our learning and professional development. To support our students and alumni, Doula Canada has developed an advocacy framework that defines advocacy in the context of doula practice and describes approaches to individual advocacy that are aligned with respect for client autonomy. 

Our framework identifies three categories of advocacy that doulas engage in: systemic advocacy, self-advocacy promotion, and individual advocacy. 

Systemic advocacy is any effort to change, remove, or add a policy or process that affects the lives of birthers, families, babies, or doulas. Examples include lobbying your elected federal representative to change the birth evacuation policy or amplifying social media campaigns that raise awareness regarding perinatal mental illness.

While we don’t usually think of it as such, our work with clients to support them to know the evidence regarding their perinatal circumstances, and ask the right questions of their healthcare providers is a form of advocacy. We encourage them to use their voice and make their conversations more effective because they are armed with information.

Sometimes, especially in the birth room, it might be necessary to advocate for the client in more direct ways. It is important that this individual advocacy does not manifest as speaking for or over the client, or in a manner that could worsen their care or medical situation.

A 2020 paper by S.S. Yam based on interviews with doulas identified three types of tactics that doulas use to advocate for their clients during labour and delivery. She calls these “soft-advocacy” techniques because they differ from what we usually think of as advocacy. Staff and instructors at Doula Canada agreed they used these strategies and had lots of guidance to offer on exactly how to use them. Their guidance was used to develop the advocacy framework. 

The three tactics identified by Yam are 1) creating deliberative space, 2) cultural and knowledge brokering, and 3) physical touch and spatial maneuvers. 

Creating deliberative space refers to strategies that give the client more time to ask questions and make decisions. One example of how doulas do this is by noticing that care that deviates from their preferences is about to happen and bringing it to the client’s attention, prompting them to ask about the intervention that is about to happen.

Cultural and knowledge brokering refer to the tactics doulas use to make sure the client understands medical jargon or cultural norms. This could involve paying close attention to the information provided by the medical team, observing how well this is understood by the client, and repeating the information in language that the client uses and understands.

Physical touch and spatial maneuvering refers to the ways we use our bodies and physical contact with the client to advocate for their needs. Examples include using our bodies to conceal the client from view, modeling consent by asking permission each time we touch the client, and using our presence to back up the client during interactions. 

The complete framework is linked below. It offers more detail on the three types of advocacy and the soft-advocacy strategies. It illustrates these concepts using case studies based on staff and instructor experiences. 

In 2023, Doula Canada will continue its work to support advocacy among its members by developing an advocacy toolkit from the framework and launching an advocacy working group for students and alumni. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][mk_button corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://stefanie-techops.wisdmlabs.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/advocacy-framework-paper.pdf” align=”center”]Click here to view the full Advocacy Framework document[/mk_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]